The present invention relates generally to telecommunications, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for an intelligent release link trunk.
In today""s environment of increased competition and technological advancements in the telecommunications industry, service providers are constantly offering new products and services (hereinafter xe2x80x9cservicesxe2x80x9d) to their customers. In order to support the new services, a wide variety of new and revised network components are continuously being deployed into the telecommunications network. Many of these new services are provided by automated systems that require little or no human intervention. Typically, customers interact with such systems by responding to digitized voice prompts provided by audio response units (ARUs) and the like. Customers typically enter data and select options by using their telephone keypads which generate Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) signals. Alternatively, some automated systems are equipped with voice recognition devices that allow customers to enter data and select options by speaking into their telephone handsets.
An example of a service that is typically provided by an automated platform is a telephone debit card service. Such services allow customers to make long distance telephone calls using prepaid cards (also referred to as xe2x80x9cdebit cardsxe2x80x9d). The debit cards are generally purchased by customers in predetermined dollar amounts. Once purchased, customers dial the telephone number printed on the card to access a particular automated debit card service platform. This telephone number is referred to herein as the xe2x80x9caccess numberxe2x80x9d. Customers are then prompted to enter their account and personal identification numbers (PINs). Such numbers are typically printed on the debit card product. After such numbers are verified by the system, long distance telephone calls are charged against a debit card account associated with the debit card. The debit card accounts are setup and maintained by the service provider and are accessible by debit card service platform associated with the telephone number printed on the card.
Telecommunication platforms referred to herein as xe2x80x9cintelligent overlay networksxe2x80x9d comprise computer and telecommunication elements used to implement a variety of automated telecommunication services. For example, an intelligent overlay network used to implement a debit card service typically comprises: (1) a database containing debit card account information, (2) a computer controller, (3) an ARU, and (4) a conventional telecommunication switch.
Additionally, it is often desired to provide callers with an option to connect with human operators and/or customer service personnel. For example, callers equipped with rotary telephones often require operator assistance because they cannot interact with automated platforms that respond only to DTMF signals. Furthermore, customers needing additional operating instructions or instructions spoken in different languages, often need to be connected with customer service representatives. In addition, because service providers often lock customer PINs when fraud is suspected, customers often need to connect with customer service representatives to have their PINs unlocked. These are just a few of many examples that demonstrate why it is desirable to allow customers to connect with live operators from such automated service platforms.
Generally, conventional operator and customer services are provided by network platforms referred to herein as xe2x80x9cintelligent networksxe2x80x9d. Typically, when operator services are desired, calls are transferred to such intelligent networks. Once a call is transferred, operators can be used to assist callers and to complete calls. Traditionally, when a person makes an operator assisted call, the caller gets connected to an operator, the operator then connects to the destination and then bridges the two calls together and then releases his connection to the two calls. This method of connecting calls is not very efficient since extra resources are used to bridge the calls and since the route of the calls is optimized for caller to operator and operator to the callee, and not the caller to the callee.
Therefore, a system and method that improves the current method of providing operator services is needed.
In contrast to the prior art, the present invention provides an improved method for providing manual and automated operator services. The improved method and system reduces the number of ports utilized during an operator assisted call is optimized by providing the address of the terminating node to the originating node. This allows the network to establish a direct path between parties thus minimizing the number of ports and other network resources used in making the connection.
In addition, a system and method to connect a caller to a callee through the services of an operator is described. The method may comprise: connecting the caller to the operator through an origination switch; connecting the operator to the callee through a destination switch; sending a release message to the destination switch with a request for a callee address; receiving the address at the operator; sending a release message to the origination switch with the callee address; and connecting the callee with the caller by utilizing the callee address. The method can also include putting the callee on hold at the destination switch and sending the callee address from the destination switch. The method can also include putting the caller on hold at the origination switch while receiving the callee address from the operator. The operator can be an automated operator, a manual operator, or a private branch exchange, for example. The network can be an asynchronous transfer mode network and, or an Internet Protocol network, for example.